Vernacula
by strayphoenix
Summary: After 7 years, Aldarn's younger sister, Vernacula, is found to be alive and imprisoned as Phobos court singer. After rescuing her the Guardians have to keep her hidden on Earth. Problem? She's got her eyes on her brother's best friend, who's already taken
1. I'll be your only dancer

Hello everyone! Strayphoenix here! This is my first W.I.T.C.H. fic so be nice. Here's the first chapter of 'Vernacula'!

* * *

There was silence within the old run down barn in the middle of the remote Meridian country side. No one had occupied the barn for at least fifty years. The silence, however, was broken by one of the three new temporary inhabitants of the barn.

"Well this sucks"

"No kidding, Caleb" Aldarn said rolling his eyes.

"How long have we been here now?" Drake asked with a yawn.

Caleb sighed and glanced at his Earth watch. His eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no! Look at the time! We have to get out of here! I have to get to Earth!"

"Great idea, Caleb. The three of us just have to find a way to fight off an army of ten thousand Lurdens" Drake said sarcastically.

"You guys don't understand! I **really** have to get to Earth!" Caleb exclaimed.

"Caleb," Aldarn said with a tint of frustration in his voice, "we're stuck in a barn, in the middle of nowhere, without weapons, with an army of Lurdens waiting outside to rip us to shreds. What on Earth is so important that you have to risk you're (actually, **our) **lives to get?"

"Wait! Wait! Don't tell me!" Drake said putting his fingers to his temples and closing his eyes. Aldarn and Caleb rolled their eyes as their friend pretended to read Caleb's mind.

Drake peeked an eye open and smiled playfully at Caleb. "It's Cornelia, isn't it?"

Caleb slightly blushed.

"Is it?" Aldarn asked.

"She invited me to watch her figure skating competition" Caleb explained, rubbing the back of his head. Aldarn slapped his forehead.

"It means a lot to her!" Caleb said defending himself.

"I'm sure it does" he grumbled.

"C'mon, Aldarn" Drake insisted with an impish grin, throwing an arm around his friend. "Like you haven't done stupid and dangerous things for a girl"

"Yeah, Aldarn. Oh! What was the name of that girl you dated two years back?" Caleb said with a grin, glad that the conversation had shifted away from him and Cornelia.

"Jessie, right?" Drake asked with a wink as he nudged Aldarn.

"That's different!" Aldarn insisted with a blush that strongly contrasted his green skin. "I was only risking **my **life" Then his sour mood completely evaporated and was replaced by an evil smile aimed at Drake. "And it wasn't at least half as dangerous as what Drake did for Mirabella"

Now it was Drake's turn to blush and Caleb and Aldarn started laughing their heads off.

"Well, they say on Earth that all is fair in love and war" Caleb said after his laughing fit.

"This is certainly unfair" Drake stated glancing up at the roof of the barn that was creaking from the weight of the Lurdens on top of it. "Wouldn't that make love unfair too?"

A large thud against the left wall of the barn reminded them of their situation and they got back to business.

"Can we finish this little philosophical discussion another time?" Caleb asked.

"Hey, Caleb? How much more time do you have to get to Earth?" Aldarn asked him standing up. Drake and Caleb followed his lead and Caleb glanced at his watch.

"Five minutes!" he exclaimed.

"If I get us out of here, I call best man at your wedding" he said with a smirk.

"Hey! If he's best man, what am I?" Drake complained.

"You can hold Cornelia's veil or something" Caleb said off-handedly with a smile. "The position's yours. What's the plan?"

"We break down the door and run screaming like three Earth girls to the nearest portal"

Caleb and Drake stared at him. "You wouldn't happen to have a plan that allows me to keep my dignity in tact, would you?" Drake asked him playfully.

Just then the creaking on the roof got really loud and it caved in. At least a dozen Lurdens dropped into the barn.

"Let's get out of here!" Caleb shouted breaking down the door and leaping over a couple of guards. Drake and Aldarn followed suit, almost enjoying themselves as they leapt over stunned Lurdens.

"After all of this, Cornelia better win that competition!" Aldarn exclaimed as he grabbed an ax from a fallen guard and started fighting another one.

* * *

Meanwhile on Earth, Cornelia was fixing her bun in the locker room as she was getting ready for her number. She heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" she called.

Irma and Taranee walked in grinning. Cornelia broke into a wide smile.

"You guys came!" she exclaimed coming over to hug them.

"Of course we did! How could we not?" Taranee said as she returned Cornelia's hug.

"Are the others here?" Cornelia asked as she released them from her grip.

"Will and Hay Lin called and said they were just leaving the Silver Dragon two minutes ago" Irma provided. "They sounded really excited"

"Ugh. I hope Hay Lin didn't bring those shirts that she brought to my last competition" Cornelia said with disgust.

"These?" Irma asked with an evil smile as she and Taranee opened up their jackets to show her the green and yellow shirts they were wearing. 'Go Corny!' read across the front in blue on both of them.

Cornelia let out a defeated sigh. "Yes, those." Irma and Taranee giggled.

"Hey," Cornelia asked as her smile returned, "is Caleb here?"

"I haven't heard anything from him since yesterday" Taranee stated.

"Oh" Cornelia said as her smile faded. "Maybe he forgot" she whispered as she sat down on one of the benches.

"Don't say that!" Taranee reassured her sitting down next to her. "He's probably a bit busy. He'll be here. Promise"

"Thanks" Cornelia said with a small smile.

She heard the muffled sound of applause and knew that the last skater was done and she was up.

"Well," she said standing up, "wish me luck!"

Irma and Taranee gave her two thumbs up. Cornelia walked out of the locker room, took in a deep breath, and skated onto the ice.

* * *

"**Where's **the nearest portal?" Caleb shouted to Aldarn as they finally broke free from the army and began running over the dead grasses of the once green plains of the Meridian countryside.

"I heard that one opened near Shomanka" Aldarn supplied.

"That's three miles from here!" Drake exclaimed looking behind him and noticing that the army was starting to collect itself and beginning to run after them.

"Look!" Caleb pointed out. Aldarn and Drake looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that a portal had just opened before their eyes.

"Wow. Of all the luck"

"Wait a second; you don't expect us to go with you, do you?" Aldarn asked as they approached the portal.

"Of course not, Aldarn" Drake said sarcastically. "You can stay here if you want"

"You guys really don't have an option" Caleb stated.

The three reached the portal and jumped in simultaneously. Upon reaching Earth, they tumbled into a dumpster and made a hell of a ruckus.

"Oh gross! What is this?" Drake asked getting out of the garbage.

"It's where the Earthlings dump their garbage" Caleb said pulling himself out of the dumpster. Drake and Caleb then turned around to get Aldarn out.

"Aldarn?" Caleb asked as they pulled him out of the dumpster. He looked about to throw up.

"I don't even want to know" Drake stated as they started to get the garbage off of them.

"Ahem!"

Drake and Caleb turned around to see that the portal was closed and that Will and Hay Lin were watching them with knowing grins.

"Um…hi?" Caleb said sheepishly.

"Where have you been!" Hay Lin exclaimed. "She started already!"

"We were fighting Lurdens!" Aldarn explained while brushing off an old banana peel from his shoulder.

"I don't care what you were doing! Get in that stadium right now!" Hay Lin grabbed Caleb by the wrist and dragged him out onto the sidewalk. Drake and Aldarn laughed at him and started to follow. Will stopped them.

"You don't plan on hanging around Heatherfield like that, do you?"

"Like what?" they asked. Will rolled her eyes. They probably thought that green and striped skin wouldn't attract attention in Hetherfield.

"Here, everyone has the same skin color. And we don't walk around with enough fighting armor to slay a dragon"

"Don't you mean a giant snake?" Drake asked.

"Earthlings don't know the difference" Will said.

Aldarn shrugged his soldiers."Well, what do you want us to do about it?"

Will grinned and the alley was filled with a bright pink light…

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the stadium, Cornelia closed her eyes and felt the breeze zoom across her face from the speed at which she was skating. She quickly reviewed her next three steps and waited for the musical notes that would carry them out. She had already faltered a little bit in the first few minutes of the routine and she couldn't mess up again.

As she approached the corner where she knew her friends were sitting, she saw that three figures were entering the isle. Will, Hay Lin and…

Her heart hit the ceiling as she saw Caleb and he gave her a tiny wave. Knowing she couldn't wave back, she settled for giving him her biggest grin. She felt like skating a little faster, like turning a little extra, like leaping a little higher.

She heard her note and dug one pick into the ice and propelled herself into a double spin in the air. She landed gracefully back on the ice on one leg and the audience applauded. Her eyes found his again as he and her friends cheered.

'That was awesome!' he mouthed to her. She blushed but smiled and mouthed a small thank you in return as she skated away from their area feeling as light as a feather.

As the end of her number drew near, she made her way to the center of the rink and began spinning really fast on one leg with the other touching the back of her head. She hadn't practiced this last move as much as her other ones but she felt like she could do it right at that moment. She slowed down according to the music and then struck her final pose as the music subsided.

The audience went absolutely wild! They loved her! She grinned like a fool and bowed a couple of time. Amongst all the cheers and applauses, she could hear her friends chanting her name. Following their voices, she found their four identical shirts and a long brown cloak sitting in between them. They were all standing and she could see Caleb better seeing that he was slightly taller.

Full with pride and relief at being finished, she felt really light spirited. Without really thinking, she blew him a kiss.

And even though he was half of the stadium away and there were hundreds of people around him, Caleb knew that kiss was meant for him. Suddenly, he was feeling just as light spirited as she. He managed to smile wider than he even thought possible.

Cornelia giggled and with a final courtesy, skated off the ice.

* * *

In Meridian, things aren't quite as joyful…

"Phobos?" Elyon asked as she knocked on the huge doors that lead to his throne room. She heard a whooshing noise inside before they swung open with magic to let her inside. There she saw Phobos and Cedric in the beautiful throne room where she knew that they'd be.

"Yes, sister?" he responded with that smile of his.

"Phobos, I was wondering, what type of music do you guys listen to in Meridian?"

"Why do you ask, princess?" Cedric said, looking a little bit suspicious.

"Well, I've had this song that I liked from Earth stuck in my head all day and I was just wondering…" she said but Phobos cut her off.

"You don't want to go back home, do you?"

"No, that's not it at all" she responded quickly.

"Meridian music is only a little bit different from Earth music, Elyon" Phobos stated, changing the subject quickly. "Would you care to listen to a small concert with me? Meridian's most talented singer lives right in this castle"

At those words, Elyon's face lit up. "Really? But aren't you busy with prince-things?"

"Nonsense" he said with a wave of his hand. "You go wait in the ballroom. I'll have Cedric go and fetch her and I'll be along in a minute"

"Thank you, Phobos! You're the best!" she exclaimed with a smile and rushed out of the room.

The moment she did, Phobos' magic wore off and the bright sunny, throne room returned to its former dark and gloomy state. Cedric turned to Phobos.

"If your majesty would permit me to state my opinion, I don't believe this is the wisest of decisions" he said to Phobos.

"Would you rather her be home sick and want to return to her pathetic world?" Phobos growled at him as he started to get up.

"Of course not, your majesty, it's just…" he paused to make sure that there were no guards at the door.

"It's just, if word gets around the castle that she's still alive, you know it will spread to the people…I mean, she's been believed to be dead for a good seven years…"

"We took her in the first place so she could sing for our entertainment, did we not?" Phobos asked in an annoyed voice as he glided past Cedric to the doors of the throne room.

"Yes, but when we took her, her brother wasn't second in command of the rebel forces" Cedric contradicted.

"Silence! This is not negotiable!" Phobos snapped at Cedric, turning on his heel to face him. "Go fetch the girl and bring her to the ball room!"

Cedric bowed his head in respect and fear. "Yes, your majesty"

Phobos left the room and Cedric followed after him. He took the left hallway and transforming into a snake midway up the stairs, arrived at a locked bedroom door. Once he had unlocked it with his key he swung the doors open with a _clang_.

A figure that had been reading lazily on the bed, jumped with a start. "Cedric!" she exclaimed.

"Get dressssssed up, Vernacula" he ordered with an evil smile, "you'll be holding a concert for the princessssss"

* * *

Well? What do you think of my first chapter? Let me know! 


	2. Voice of an angel

Hey everyone! Here's chapter 2! Be sure to check out my other WITCH story, _**Angel of my Nightmares**_. It's from the books in Caleb's POV. It happens at the same time as books but in Meridian through the life of Caleb. It deals with his dreams about Cornelia and his finally meeting her, his worries about being the rebel leader, and his struggle at being human after converting from being a Murmurer. Very good if I do say so myself (lol).

PS: I would like to apologize if any of my X-Men fans are reading this. I know I haven't posted in forever and a day but I can't help what I'm inspired to write. More X-Men will come over the summer though! Sorry again.

**

* * *

**

NOTE: W.I.T.C.H. isn't mine. If it was, I'd have settled on an eye color for Caleb in the books.

_**NOTE 2: **__What is italicized is a flashback._

* * *

Vernacula stood in front of her full length mirror, slowly spinning, looking at her dress. She absolutely hated it. Its dark blue silk went absolutely horrible with her green skin. She wore it because it was the only dress she owned and Prince Phobos didn't want her to wear her baggy peasant clothes when she performed.

With a sigh, she stepped closer to the mirror. She ran her fingers through her pink, vine-like hair to undo any tangles she might have had. Then she headed over to her curio and reached for her face cream. On her cheeks, she had two yellow stripes, one on each side, which she hated even more than the dress. She was embarrassed by them because she should have lost them by now. She was old enough but they just weren't going away. She could change out of the dress but not out of her skin. She rubbed the green face cream over them thoroughly, until they couldn't be seen anymore.

After she had wiped her hands down on a towel, she started going over the songs she knew in her head. She looked around her curio for something to add to her ugly dress. Maybe some earrings made for her pointy ears or…

Suddenly, her eye fell upon something and her train of thought came to a stop. She slowly reached out for the pendant and chain in her lavender music box. It was nothing special, just a small periwinkle colored stone set in a carved wooden flower hanging on an ordinary black cord. But it meant the world to her.

_A four year old Vernacula looked curiously out of the window of her house at her brother and his two best friends playing ball outside._

"_Mommy, can I go play with the boys?" she asked her mother eagerly, tugging at her mother's cloak._

"_Verna, wouldn't you rather help mommy make dinner?" she asked, trying to talk her daughter out of getting her new skirt dirty._

"_I want to play with the boys!" she persisted. She gave her mother a puppy dog pout and her mother agreed. "All right" she sighed, "at least until your father gets home"_

_With a happy squeal, she ran outside to where Aldarn, Caleb and Drake were kicking a ball around. They stopped when they saw her._

"_Oh, great, here she comes" Aldarn muttered when he thought she was still out of hearing range._

"_Can I play?" she asked them pleadingly. _

"_No" Aldarn told her. "This is a big boy's game"_

"_I can be a big boy" she insisted a bit hurt._

"_NO, Verna, you can't. Go back and help mom or something" He tossed the ball and Drake went after it. Aldarn was about to go too when Caleb grabbed him arm._

"_C'mon, Aldarn" he said playfully, "don't be like that"_

_He turned to a whimpering Vernacula on the verge of tears and smiled at her warmly as he squatted down to look her in the eyes._

"_You can play, Verna" he said, "Aldarn's just being a butt-head"_

"_I am not!" Aldarn protested as Vernacula good mood returned with a giggle._

"_Heads up!" Drake called as the ball came soaring in their direction. Verna jumped and hit it back with the wrong part of her head. She blinked her eyes repeatedly as her head started to throb._

"_Sorry, Verna. You OK?" Drake asked coming over as Aldarn tried to retrain his laughter. Unfortunately, Vernacula noticed and stomped away after shooting her brother a teary glare. _

"_Verna?" Caleb called to her softly as he followed her._

"_He's so mean!" she exclaimed in a pout as she headed back towards her house, "I can't wait until I get older than him!"_

_Vernacula stopped walking and slumped herself down on a rock and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to will her throbbing headache away. Caleb came and sat next to her. _

"_Don't say that, Verna. I'm sure somewhere deep inside he loves you" Caleb said trying to reassure her._

"_Yeah" she stated with childish sarcasm, "really, really, really, really, really, really, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, inside"_

_Caleb chuckled at her comment with a smile. He pulled something out of his coat pocket. "Here, I made this for you for your birthday"_

_Vernacula looked at the little piece of folded leather and grabbed it, not even bothering to remind Caleb that her birthday wasn't for another week. She unfolded it to find a small flower carved out of driftwood with a small stone in it. It was attached to a cord. _

_Vernacula eyed it with wonder. She broke into a smile and started putting it on quickly. Caleb gave her a hand after she struggled with trying to put it on for about a minute. She looked down at it with pride and then gave Caleb a hug._

"_Why couldn't you have been my brother?" she asked into his shirt. Caleb chuckled as he pushed her away so that he could see her face. _

"_Because then you'd have my mom" he stated with a smile at Vernacula's reaction. His mother, Diana, was super strict when it came to…well, everything._

"_Can I give you a gift too?" she asked him hopefully. _

"_What would it be?" he asked her with playful suspicion._

"_I can teach you to sing!" she exclaimed. She wanted to share her talent with him in return for his sharing of his talent with her. _

_He laughed again at this. "OK. When do we start?"_

_She opened her mouth to speak when she heard a bell and spun around to see her father coming home with Caleb's dad._

"_Tomorrow!" she called to Caleb over her shoulder, already halfway to her father, running as fast as she could. _

She felt the carved petals of the wooden flower with her fingertips as she passed them gently over the necklace she had placed around her neck. A tear slipped down her cheek and dropped to her dress, making a dark stain. She hadn't seen Caleb or Aldarn in over seven years. They'd be fifteen now, she thought. She herself was fourteen due to the fact that the females of her species aged slightly faster than the males. What was once a four year difference was now only one.

Despite the way her brother had treated her, she did love him. And as her years of imprisonment passed by, she found herself falling in love with someone else as well…

She practically jumped three feet in the air when she heard the loud, sudden thud against her door.

"Vernacula!" Cedric shouted from the other side.

"Coming!" she called, fixing her hair again in the mirror. She opened her door to see Cedric and a dozen guards.

"I'm ready" she stated, trying not to sound as intimidated as she felt. Cedric practically pushed her into the center of the circle of guards and they began to walk to the ballroom.

* * *

On Earth, in Heatherfield…

Cornelia undid her bun and repacked up her hair in a ponytail. There was way too much gel in it and it looked extremely weird if it was down. However, the bobby pins in the bun had been digging into her head the entire competition. She slipped on her white jacket and her medal made a clink sound against the zipper. Cornelia finished slipping on her matching sweat pants and putting the covers on her skate blades when there was a knocking on the locker room door.

"You're good" she called absentmindedly, packing her bag.

"For what?" came a confused voice from the door.

Cornelia turned around with a wide grin as Caleb came into the locker room.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, trying to water down her excitement, "I'm so glad you could make it!" It wasn't really working.

He smiled at her, trying to hide his own elated feeling. "I'm really glad I could make it too. You were fantastic!"

Caleb almost winced when he realized that his comment made her blush. And her smile became shy.

"Thanks" she whispered, turning back to her packing.

He tried to make amends by adding, "And you won too! First place!"

Cornelia turned back to him with a curious glance.

"Caleb, silver is second" she explained.

She tried to not giggle at his reaction. He blinked a few times and asked confused, "But…how? You were amazing!"

"I know," she said as she put her skates in her bag and zipped it up, "but I messed up the first jump and that cost me a few points. Beside that brunette did a…"

She stopped as she looked up and noticed Caleb stomping towards the door, hands balled up and a determined glare imprinted on his face.

"Wait 'till I get my hands on those judges!" she heard him murmur. Cornelia ran up behind him before he got too far and, laughing, snagged his wrist.

"Caleb, it's all right. Really" she said with an appreciative smile. The last thing she needed was for Caleb to go 'rebel leader' on the judges. He sighed and smiled back at her as he un-balled his fists.

"Alright. If I can't give those judges what's coming to them, at least let me get your bag" he said as he reached for her white sports bag that lay unattended on the bench.

"Oh, it's all right" she responded, reaching for it at the exact same time. Cornelia's hand reached first and Caleb's closed around hers. They looked up at each other and blushed as they realized how close their faces were. Cornelia's butterflies started doing somersaults as she bit her lip and dropped her gaze from his chocolate eyes. Caleb let out a slow breath as he realized they were so close that he could smell the gel in her hair.

Cornelia squashed a few butterflies as she looked back up at Caleb. Was she dreaming or was his face getting closer to hers?

"CORNY!"

Caleb and Cornelia jumped apart at the sound of Irma's voice as the four other Guardians came into the locker room.

"That was awesome!" Taranee exclaimed as she came to hug Cornelia. Cornelia laughed, trying not to show her frustration at her friends' timing.

"You rocked!" Will added, next in line to congratulate Cornelia. The girls crowded around her, leaving Caleb alone and separate from the group. He let out a frustrated sigh.

_Darn! That's the third time this week!_ he thought to himself, regarding the Guardian's interruption of his moment with Cornelia.

"C'mon!" Hay Lin exclaimed, "We have a little party set up back at the Silver Dragon!"

There was a chorus of 'cool!'s and 'I'm starved!'s as the girls walked out of the locker room. Caleb shook his head with a smile and followed the girls out, snatching up Cornelia's bag in the process.

* * *

Back in Meridian….

Elyon closed her eyes as the young singers vocals resounded against the walls of the ball room. The song was sad and somber but the girl sung it with an edge of bold determination. Her words bounced off the walls and pervaded her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

Nothing on Earth had prepared her for the beauty of the song she was hearing nor the naturally strong and pure voice of its singer. Her voice was clear and articulate so Elyon could be sure that the song she was singing was not in English. Still, the odd thing was that in her mind, she could almost understand what she was singing…

With that, Vernacula's song drew to a close and with a strong and final note, it subsided. However, the echoes of her final word bounced of the walls for a few minutes after. Even the clapping of Elyon, Cedric and Phobos combined didn't produce so strong an echo.

"That was incredible!" Elyon applauded. "Wasn't that fantastic?" she asked, turning to Cedric. He nodded his head and even though Elyon couldn't tell, he really meant it.

"Thank you, your majesties" Vernacula responded politely.

"Elyon was singing in Ancient Meridian (1)" Phobos explained to Elyon. "Only a few people remain that can read and write it"

Elyon was impressed. "How do you know it?" she asked Vernacula.

"I learned it from a book. I read a lot, your majesty" she responded, careful to add 'your majesty' at the end of each of her phrases. The reason she read a lot wasn't because she particularly liked it but because it was the only thing Phobos allowed her to do. In her seven years of imprisonment, she had only seen three rooms in the palace besides her own and the bathroom: the throne room, the ballroom, and the palace's grand library. There were enough books in that library to keep her occupied if she was imprisoned for another seven years and more.

Just then, in the presence of Meridian's rightful queen, Vernacula felt like rubbing it in Phobos' face that his supposed punishment of only allowing her to access the library had become an advantage to her.

"In fact, I can read and speak at least 10 Earth and Meridian languages fluently, your majesty"

"Eek" said Elyon, "and I thought **I **liked to read"

Vernacula smiled. She was liking the new princess.

"Hey!" Elyon piped up, "Do you know any songs in English?"

Vernacula bit her lip as she found herself torn between loyalties. She had a loyalty to the rightful queen of Meridian to tell her the truth but she knew she could get in trouble with the current prince if she did. The truth was, she knew only one Earth song. The problem was she had traded some of Phobos' library books with a Passling to get the lyrics.

She decided to tell half the truth.

"Yes, your majesty. I know one Earth song" she stated. Phobos glared at her suspiciously and she bowed her head to avoid his eyes.

"I learned it from a Passling" she continued, very aware of the sound of Phobos scooting foreword in his seat.

"…before I came to live in the palace" she finished finally looking up again. Elyon was still smiling at her but Cedric and Phobos were both eyeing her suspiciously even though Phobos had sat back in his seat.

"Ooh! Which one is it?" Elyon asked her, in excitement.

"I don't know the name, your majesty" she responded.

"Well, then, you may begin" Phobos stated.

Below Meridian's crowded streets, in the ancient Infinite City…

"I wish to speak to Caleb" the Mage spoke to a rebel soldier whom she had summoned.

"Um, he's not here, o ancient one" he said shyly, bowing his head.

The Mage sighed. "Very well, let me speak with Aldarn, seeing that this concerns him more"

"He's not…um, here either" the soldier responded in a similar manner as before.

The Mage, now looking quite impatient, added "At least tell me that Drake is here"

He shook his head. The Mage rubbed her eyes, trying to keep her temper in check.

"Well, where are they?" she asked him crossing her arms in front of her.

The soldier scratched the back of one leg with his other foot. "Well, from what I've heard circulating among the rebels is that the three of them went to Earth to escape an ambush they had been set up for them"

The Mage uncrossed her arms as she spoke her orders. "I need you to go to a Passling and have him send word to Caleb, Aldarn and Drake that they are needed in the Infinite City"

She was half turned, ready to retreat back into her curtain of water, when the soldier spoke up again.

"O Ancient One, if I may ask, what is so important?"

Not moving her body but allowing her eyes to return to rest on him, she responded with a solitary word:

"Family"

* * *

(1) In the series, it's the "Language of the Beasts"

By the way, does Verna's description sound familiar to you? My inspiration for Vernacula's appearance came from the end of book #11 where Elyon is led away from the fighting by a female Murmurer (or Whisperer, depending where you live) convert. In the corresponding novel, they make a small mention about her. I actually built up this whole story from the time I read that book to now. If your looking for a visual for her, that's it.


	3. Truth of the Matter

**Vernacula 3**

The sun was already on its way to setting as W.I.T.C.H. and Caleb made their way to the Silver Dragon through a short cut in Heatherfield Park. (1) The six were walking in pairs of twos, each having their own conversations: Will and Cornelia were followed by Caleb and Hay Lin with Irma and Taranee bringing up the rear.

"So then Matt walked me to my door and asked what I was doing next Friday" Will was saying to Cornelia dreamily. "Then he said had to leave because his cousin was illegally parked"

"That's all? You mean he didn't kiss you?" Cornelia asked, shocked. She took another sip of the smoothie she had ordered at the rink.

"Well, we were really close to kissing but then my neighbor came out because she had to walk her dog" she explained, "We kind of lost our guts for a good kiss. So he gave me a peck on the lips" Will sighed as her eyes rolled back and she looked at the sky

"'A **good** kiss'?" Cornelia asked suspiciously with a smile. "You've **had** a good kiss?"

Will blushed but made the motion of zipping her lips and throwing away the key. Cornelia laughed.

"I'll make you crack soon enough" she swore.

They both became silent and Cornelia took a moment to study Will as she drifted along on Cloud Nine. The way she walked made her literally look like she was gliding along. Cornelia wracked her memory for the last time she was on Cloud Nine. She sure felt like she was floating during her performance but something had been missing.

She tried to inconspicuously glance behind her at Caleb who was deep in conversation with Hay Lin. She allowed herself a smile as she immediately solved her little mystery. If Caleb had kissed her…well, to hell with Cloud Nine, she would've been on Cloud Ninety.

She heard a small cough and noticed that Will had landed on Earth and had an eyebrow arched at Cornelia.

Cornelia felt her cheeks heat up. She glared at Will and then, mockingly, repeated her motion of zipping her lips. Both of them started laughing.

Behind them, Caleb and Hay Lin continued their own conversation.

"Didn't I tell you you'd like it?" Hay Lin was saying to Caleb through sips of her pineapple-banana smoothie.

"I have to admit, I didn't think I would but I'm glad I watched it" he laughed, taking a drink of his own smoothie.

Hay Lin laughed too. "Living with a movie nut has its perks"

"I wouldn't consider it 'living with you'" Caleb corrected her. The nights that Caleb slept on Earth, it was on an old cot in the Silver Dragon's basement. However, Hay Lin and her grandmother brought him food and entertainment from their apartment upstairs.

"So," Hay Lin spoke up, after restraining herself from asking the question for the past half hour, "did you enjoy the competition?"

"Yeah" Caleb responded, his thoughts drifting back to Cornelia, "She's really good"

"Didn't she look…beautiful?" Hay Lin asked in an insinuating tone of voice.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her. Hay Lin smirked as the tiniest hint of a blush colored his cheeks as he took a sip of smoothie.

"You can answer truthfully" she begged. "I won't tell anyone. Promise!" She made the motion of crossing her heart.

"I'd first confide in Cedric" he responded with a chuckle.

"Ha!" Hay laughed. She pointed a finger at him teasingly, "You're still scared I'm going to tell the other girls **you** cried during the Lion King"

Caleb scoffed and looked away from her. However, after a good thirty seconds, he turned back to her worriedly.

"You're not, right?" he whispered.

"Only if you don't answer my question" she stated in a sing-song voice.

He looked ahead at Cornelia and Will and then back at Hay Lin. The look she was giving him made his cheeks flush fully now. He sighed and chose to go with the lesser of two evils. He kept his mouth shut and kept drinking his smoothie.

Hay Lin shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Suit yourself. **HEY WILL!**"

"Hay Lin!" he hissed at her as Will and Cornelia both turned around.

"What's up?" Will asked as Hay Lin skipped up to her and fell in step with her and Cornelia. There was a problem however, and the sidewalk wasn't big enough to fit three people lengthwise. So as Will and Hay Lin began talking about an occurrence a few nights before, Cornelia felt a bit out of place and she fell back and into step with a fuming Caleb who had only been a few paces behind them.

"Hey" she greeted. Caleb stopped fuming as he noticed for the first time that she was beside him.

"Hey" he greeted back, slightly surprised and slightly embarrased. "What's up?"

"Well," she explained, indicating Will and Hay Lin talking, "Hay Lin wanted to tell Will something and well, you know, three's a crowd" She drank a bit more of her strawberry smoothie.

"Actually, I don't" he said, confused, "What do you mean?"

Behind them, Irma and Taranee were observing the couple.

"Hay Lin did her job well" Irma snickered evilly as she slurped the last of her smoothie noisily.

Taranee mock-gasped, "Irma? You put her up to it?"

"Yup!" Irma beamed, "And I even got Caleb and Corny the same type of smoothie. Who's the greatest matchmaker in the universe?"

Taranee laughed as Irma did a tiny victory dance, falling a little further behind so that Cornelia and Caleb wouldn't notice her.

"I don't know" Taranee said with a pensive look. Irma stopped dancing and glared at her.

"What do you mean you don't know?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Well, you did blow the locker room" Taranee stated with a sympathizing look at Irma, "And your partner in crime blew the Dragon on Wednesday. Oh! And the Infinite City Tuesday morning"

"Vathek blew the Infinite City moment" Irma corrected proudly, "And Hay Lin wasn't in on the Dragon Scheme"

"So you take responsibility for the locker room?" Taranee raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"I made up for it, didn't I?" Irma exclaimed indicating to Caleb and Cornelia.

Irma said it louder than she should of out of frustration. Caleb and Cornelia should have heard her if they hadn't been already distracted by Will's howling laughter. Caleb made a motion of strangling Hay Lin but she quickly slipped aside and began running down the sidewalk at full speed.

Caleb growled a curse in Meridian as he fought every urge in his body to chase after Hay.

"What was that about?" Cornelia asked him when he had finished his particularly long curse.

"Nothing" he muttered, coloring.

Will finally stopped laughing her head off as they reached the street a few minutes later. As they were waiting to cross, she spotted two characters across the street and waved at them still grinning.

"Who are you waving to?" Irma asked as she, Taranee, Cornelia and Caleb waited for a truck to pass to see who Will was waving to. Their eyes went wide when they saw that Will was waving at two boys who looked practically like magazine models. One looked like a surfer with long dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He was wearing a green and yellow Hawaiian shirt and ripped jean shorts with brown sandals. The other looked like a rock star with dark black hair and jet blue eyes. He was wearing a black Karmilla shirt with black baggy pants and Converse shoes.

"**Who** are Mr. Gorgeous 1 and Mr. Gorgeous 2?" Taranee asked with a flirtatious glint in her eyes.

"Aldarn and Drake" Will stated offhandedly as she began crossing the street when they got a red light. Caleb was in the process of taking a drink of his smoothie when Will spoke and presently sprayed it out from shock.

"What?!" he choked as he blinked repeatedly at the two boys. Irma's jaw dropped and Cornelia and Taranee just stared at them wide-eyed.

"Hey Will!" the blonde one spoke in unmistakably Drake's voice.

"What's up, guys?" the dark haired one spoke with Aldarn's voice.

Caleb was in too much shock to speak. Irma, on the other hand, had no problem with the situation.

"Wow," she quipped, "the things they can do with plastic surgery these days"

Drake and Aldarn gave her confused looks. Will rolled her eyes and explained,

"It's a new trick I learned to do with the Heart. I can change the appearance of people that aren't from this world"

Caleb was having trouble re-teaching himself the use of his vocal chords. Taranee spoke up instead.

"So who'd you make them look like?" she asked Will.

Will shrugged. "I was in a hurry so I just did the first two people that came to my mind. I just hope I didn't see their faces on wanted posters"

"I saw a show where something like that happened (2)" Hay Lin piped up, showing up from completely nowhere. Caleb was still too shocked to even throw a glare at her.

"Maybe you were reading HEATHERgirl?" Cornelia suggested, eyeing Drake's clothes.

Caleb finally gained control of his motor functions, including his voice. "Can you do that to me?" he asked Will finally.

"Now why would you want to change that beautiful face?" Irma asked in a baby voice, pinching his check. Caleb made a gagging noise and Aldarn and Drake laughed at him.

"Caleb! Girls!"

Eight heads whipped around to the mouth of a nearby alley.

"Blunk?" Caleb called out, taking a step towards the alley opening.

"Come quick!" he whispered urgently. Caleb, Aldarn, Drake and the Guardians stepped into the murky alley. "What is it?" Irma asked.

Blunk made a motion of saying something but stopped when he caught sight of Drake and Aldarn's appearances.

"Who they?" he asked Will worriedly, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Aldarn and Drake" Taranee responded for her. Blunk looked at the two boys again. This look was followed by two minutes of wild laughter. Both boys glared at him.

"Blunk, it is us" Aldarn stated.

"What did you come here for?" Drake added.

Blunk wiped a tear from his eye. "Sound like Aldarn and Drake. No look like Aldarn and Drake"

"Blunk!" the eight teens present shouted in unison to get the Passling back on focus.

"Right! Mage send Blunk to fetch boys and Guardians" he announced with a salute.

"The Mage?" Caleb pondered aloud. "She's never summoned us before"

"Mage say very important. For Aldarn and Drake too" Blunk pointed to a portal at the center of the alley way.

"All right, girls" Will spoke up, "let's transform so we can stay on our toes, just in case"

The others nodded in unison as Will pulled out the Heart.

"Guardians Unite!"

The five girls floated up into the air while the three boys and Blunk stayed on the ground watching them.

"Why does she say that?" Aldarn inquired as the girls started to spin in their bubbles.

"Yeah, and where is that wicked guitar music coming from?" Drake piped up.

"And why girls call out powers when change?" Blunk added.

"I know. Do they think the others forgot which element they were?" Drake joked.

"What am I, Casanova all the sudden?" Caleb exclaimed. "Regular girls are hard enough to decipher, let alone magical ones!"

"Truer words…" Aldarn started but shut up as the five floated back to the ground, transformed. The eight headed over to the portal and stepped through one by one. Irma, the last Guardian to go through, turned around just before fully stepping through and addressed the three guys behind her saying, "By the way, we could hear every word you said"

The guys blushed as Irma went through the portal.

* * *

"I can't believe our appearances don't stay with us when we cross the Veil" Aldarn muttered in disappointment as he walked down the stairs to the Mage's waterfall with the others.

"I know" Drake chimed, hands shoved in his pockets, "Maybe Valin would've looked at me twice in that get-up"

Cornelia put her two cents in, "Hey, relationships based on illusions never work out" (3)

"Trust me," Irma Lair, World's Greatest Matchmaker, spoke up, "if you want her to notice you, you should be yourself"

"Except that Valin's been in his division for seven months and hasn't said anything to his real self other than ask the direction of the water supply" Aldarn whispered to Taranee who was closest to him. She stifled a laugh.

By this time, they had reached the bottom of the stairs and spread out to make room for everyone. The three boys dropped down on one knee and the girls slightly bowed their heads as the Mage appeared from behind the waterfall.

"Good, you are all here" she spoke in her unnaturally calm voice.

"What is it, Mage" Caleb asked respectfully as he raised his head to look at the Mage, his companions following his lead. Cornelia, who was watching from the air a little behind him couldn't help but think how earnest and just darn cute he looked.

"There is no easy way to say this" she said, eyeing each of the boys, "so I will just say it. Vernacula is alive"

"WHAT?" Drake choked. Caleb and Aldarn's eyes went wide.

"Huh?" Will asked from the air. "Who's Vernacula?"

Irma and Hay Lin, choked on their laughter, somehow finding the name extremely funny.

Aldarn jumped to his feet. "Tha-that's impossible! She's dead"

"She is not, Aldarn" the Mage said, "This morning I received a powerful magical reading. I attempted to find its source using my crystal ball and I received this vision…"

The mage was about to wave her hand but Will interrupted her before she could.

"Wait. Go back a bit. Who's Vernacula now?" Will asked again.

Caleb turned around to Will, still in shock. "She's Aldarn's sister. We thought she died in a fire a long time ago…" His voice disappeared.

"Where is she?" Drake asked the Mage.

The Mage bowed her head. "I'm sorry to say that according to my vision, she is Phobos' prisoner and has been for the last seven years"

"Well, we're not just going to leave her there, are we?" Taranee asked, even though the question was rhetorical.

"The hell we are" Aldarn spoke, a fire burning behind his metallic eyes.

"We're busting her out"

* * *

(1) This is the same park Cornelia and Elyon walk through in the books as their returning from Cornelia's ice skating competition in Book 7. It's also where Elyon gives Cornelia a sketch of Caleb before either of them ever met him.

(2) strayphoenix: Hay Lin, being the sci-fi nut that she is, is referring to an episode in Charmed season 8 where…  
Whitexslayer: (comes running into the room) CHARMED! CHAAARMED! Charmed! Cha-Charmed?  
SP: (sighs) No Charmed.  
WS: (blinks twice) No…Charmed?  
SP: No Charmed. Now go.  
WS: Buffy?  
SP: (annoyed) No Buffy either! Now go!  
WS:………Angel?  
SP: **_GO!  
_**WS: (leaves grumbling)  
SP: Anyway, this happens on (glances behind her) you-know-what season 8. The three persons in question change their appearance to that of wanted women.

(3) Follow your own advice! (cough) F is for (cough) Facades (cough)

_

* * *

Next Time…_

"_Sorry, Valin" Caleb apologized, "Drake suffers from a disease which causes him to lose the use of his vocal chords in the presence of cleavage"_

"_**I DO NOT!"**_

* * *

Now comes the action-y butt-kicking! Stay tuned! 


	4. A Piece of Work

_**Vernacula 4**_

"Where the heck are we?" Irma asked with disgust as the group of teens walked down a filthy alleyway that held another entrance to the infinite city. She kicked a piece of garbage and jumped back when a half rabbit-half mouse scuttled out from under it.

Caleb shook off a spider web from his shoulder absentmindedly and Taranee clung to Will's cloak as he tossed it just to her left. Will bit her lip to keep from laughing and patted Taranee's hand gently.

"This is the way to Cember" Aldarn informed them. "It's another passage to the Infinite City and it's the closest to the palace. We're keeping this post for now since our last one might have been compromised" The Guardians couldn't help but notice the change in his voice. The metal smith was brandishing a voice of steel.

They now were approaching the end of the alley where they could see what looked like a pub. "Tunsall's Passage" read across a large sign at the door. Drake spoke up, not as steely as Aldarn but not as relaxed as earlier. "We need to grab more soldiers if we're going to do a full blown raid of the palace. Not to mention Tunsall's Passage should have someone with information on her more precise locations, right Caleb?"

Drake looked over to the rebel leader who hadn't said anything to anyone since they had reemerged from the Mage's waterfall. Cornelia glanced at him too from underneath the hood of her cloak, worried about him. Caleb's eyes were unfocused on the approaching exit…

_Caleb ran behind Drake as they raced back to Aldarn's house. Aldarn, being utterly exhausted, brought up the rear panting heavily._

"_Hold…up…guys…" he called between pants. Caleb slowed to a stop and let Aldarn catch up to him while Drake continued running._

"_You're such a weakling" Caleb laughed as Aldarn collapsed on the floor. At the comment Aldarn looked up at Caleb with fury._

"_I am not! You made me chase that ball all the way into practically the middle of the forest!"_

_Caleb laughed at him and offered him his hand to help him get up. Aldarn took it reluctantly._

_Just then, Drake came running back over the hill at twice the speed he had been going originally._

"_Guys! Come quick! It's an emergency!" he shouted slamming on his brakes before running into them._

_Caleb and Aldarn didn't hesitate and took off running after Drake. When they breached the hill's summit, they saw the smoldering ashes where Aldarn's house used to be._

"_Oh my—" Caleb started, numb._

"_MOM!" Aldarn shouted taking off running again. His friends took off after him at what had instantly become their top speeds._

_Julian and Akatan were standing near the edge of the rubble talking to another blue skinned man. They both turned around when they heard the children coming, Akatan wiping his moist eyes hastily._

"_Dad…?" Aldarn asked extremely frightened. Caleb couldn't breathe from the tightness in his chest: a result of both exhaustion and fear. Drake was looking around for his own parents. _

"_Aldarn…" his father started slowly. Julian put a hand on his shoulder._

"_Maybe you should talk to your son alone" he suggested, his own sturdy voice shaky at the moment. Akatan nodded and led the still young Aldarn away. Caleb turned to his father after watching the Murmurers walk away for a while. Drake had found his father._

"_What happened?" he managed to say. "Why is Master Akatan so upset?"_

_Julian squatted down and sat on his heels to look Caleb square in the eye. "Phobos' soldiers came and burned the house to the ground looking for Akatan. They'd gotten wind that he might've had connections with the gathering rebellion" Julian took a breath. "We…Vernacula and her mother were in the house when it happened. We don't know if they got out or—"_

"**CALEB!**"

Cornelia's voice hit him like a jolt of lightning and he snapped out of his reverie.

A moment too late it seemed as a dark figure lunged at him from the top of one of the buildings forming the alley way, the glint of moonlight on an exposed steel dagger being the first thing to catch his attention.

* * *

"Why don't we have a concert?"

Vernacula looked up from bowing at the end of her song and gave Elyon a puzzled glance. "Excuse me, your majesty?"

"Yeah, a real concert! For all of Meridian!" She said excitedly, "We can use that old amphitheater near Shomanka that I saw on the map!"

"Elyon, my heart" Phobos began with false sympathy, "That amphitheater is old and run down. It hasn't been in use since _our_ _grandmother_ was queen"

Lord Cedric shifted his scales uneasily as a couple of things were drown to his attention: the trouble it took Phobos to say 'our', the fact that Elyon really wasn't giving a damn, and the something that had begun to glimmer behind Vernacula's eyes as Elyon ignored her brother and continued going on.

"Oh, that's no problem! With my new powers I can have it fixed in no time!" She stood up from her throne in her thrill and began to pace. She continued, dreamily, "Just imagine, the canopy of sky, the summer smells, the echo of the music (we'll have to have real music of course)...I'm sure the people haven't had entertainment like that in years"

The princess' words seemed to echo themselves in Vernacula's mind. _The canopy of clear skies she hadn't seen in years, the summer smells that were choked up by the surrounding swamp, __**real **__music…_

…_the hope of freedom…_

Verna shook her head subtly and tried to push the last thought out of her mind. Sure, she'd never left the palace and sure, an open amphitheater in an abandoned countryside was _ten_ times easier to escape from than a locked room in a Medieval castle but where could she go? More importantly, how far would she get?

She didn't really know why Phobos had kidnapped her in the first place but she was fairly certain it wasn't just for her singing, no matter how amazing it was. She figured he wasn't going to give her up without a fight.

When she tuned back in, Elyon was trying to appeal to Phobos' sympathetic side and failing due to the fact the man had none.

"I'm sorry, Elyon. It's just too risky for all of us" he lied flat out. "Besides I don't think Verna—"

"I'll do it" she said before she could bite her tongue. Two pairs of blue eyes and one pair of purple stared at her. Elyon was the only one who wasn't glaring.

"Um, I mean, if your majesties will permit it" she tried to amend hastily.

"Pleeeaaaase, Phobos?" Elyon begged.

Phobos narrowed his eyes in study of Elyon. For a moment, Verna actually feared he was going to kill her. Finally, he groaned and Elyon took it as a yes. She gave him a tight hug and without another word ran to Vernacula, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her in the direction of the door. "Oh my gosh! We have so much to do!"

Verna shot a glance back at the two men still in the ball room. She caught the last part of a Meridian swear from Phobos and her free fist tightened.

She would be happy if she even made it two kilometers away from that man.

* * *

Caleb's first realization was that he had absolutely no time to reach for his sword.

He reached out and grabbed the figure's wrists as they collided. Rolling with the impact, he secured his feet in the man's abdomen and kicked him off behind him. The assailant hit the wall but quickly recovered and threw his dagger in a blink-or-you'll-miss-it display of inhuman agility. Before it got within a foot of Caleb, however, Aldarn deflected it with his own sword which he did have time to pull out.

The assailant seemed to be grabbing for another weapon when he was suddenly trapped in vines. Caleb, Aldarn and a now armed Drake all shot livid glares at Cornelia that all read 'I could've taken care of it'.

Cornelia simply shrugged her shoulders and with a flick of her wrist, the vines around one of the assailant's wrist tightened and he dropped the weapon in his hand. It was a glass bottle that contained something that looked like royal blue mercury.

"Hold it right there" Will commanded throwing back her hood as Cornelia flipped the assailant upside down and bound his arms to his torso. It was only then that the assailant's long black hair was freed from underneath the hood that relief crossed the faces of Caleb and Aldarn. Recognition registered in Drake's face as well but it was accompanied by a hint of fear. Caleb stepped forward and pulled the assailants black hood back to reveal the face of a grinning female rebel.

"_Staltar_, Caleb!" she said cheerfully, licking his nose.

Even though Taranee was the fire guardians, it was Cornelia's eyes that seem to blaze at the gesture.

"Valin, Valin, Valin…" Caleb replied good humouredly, shaking his head, "I thought you'd gotten over your 'assassinate me in my sleep' phase"

"Well, duh! You're not, like, _sleeping_ are you?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Juuuuuuuuust keeping you on your toes, rebel leader! _Staltar_, Aldarn! _Staltar, _Drake!"

"_Staltar_, Valin," Aldarn said tersely. Drake mumbled something to his feet as the Guardians looked to Caleb for an explanation. Cornelia personally didn't look happy at _all _about the possible flirting while Irma was way too busy trying not to laugh at the color of Drake's face.

"Oh, hey, Guardians!" Valin chirped, noticing the five cloaked girls. She tried to maneuver herself around in her vine prison to look at the Guardians with little success. Now Irma really laughed and Valin grinned back at her.

"Please put her down, Cornelia," Caleb told the Earth Guardian as Aldarn and Drake sheathed their swords. Cornelia gave him a sideways glare but released Valin reluctantly.

She flipped herself over on the way down and landed in a crouch, scooping up the dropped bottle in the process and securing it in a pocket. Then she straightened up, beat her chest twice with her right hand and then made a peace sign.

"Wazzup in the his-house, hommies"

"Hommies?" Taranee asked as Hay Lin giggled and repeated the motion. Valin positively beamed at her.

"Valin insisted I put her in training for undercover work on Earth when Elyon was still there," Caleb explained as he, Drake and Aldarn stepped up to the mouth of the alleyway, newly paranoid and checked both ways of the street. "She's only actually been once or twice though so her slang needs some work"

"It's still pretty good," Will commented to Valin as she lightly sprinted to where Aldarn was and looked over his shoulder the same way down the street to which the already unhappy Aldarn scowled. "How'd you learn?"

"Vance Micheal Justin movies," Valin said with a breathless sigh, turning back to Will. "Isn't he just the _dreamiest?_"

"Corny, I think you found your new best friend," Irma quipped as the group began to move to the mouth of the alley following the boys' lead.

"Ha ha, Irma," Cornelia replied sarcastically as she threw her hood back up, her eyes still on Valin.

"So what do you, like, have for me today?" Valin asked excitedly as the group began to cross the street to the pub. She was practically skipping. "A break-in? An undercover job? _**Ooh**_!" she exclaimed, jumping in front of Caleb so that Caleb had to stop hard to keep from running into her, "Do I get to, like, try and assassinate Phobos, _again_?"

"Unfortunately not. Just a simple raid, high stake though," Caleb told her as he stepped around her, trying his hardest not to smile, and continued on their path towards the pub. "We'll talk more inside"

"Sounds _tight_," she commented as she fell in step with the Guardians.

Taranee was staring at her wide-eyed, "You tried to assassinate _Phobos_?!"

Valin pouted, "Yeah and I was really close too but there was, like, a last, last, last, last, _last_ minute complication and someone, like, tipped him off on my position. I was _so_ _**bloody**_ close!" she emphasized, slightly jumping up and slamming into the ground to emphasize her frustration.

Cornelia could have imagined it because she'd been watching Valin so carefully but the Guardian could have sworn the rebel stayed in the air a little bit too long for someone of her build. But Valin was oblivious to whatever slip she may have made and to Cornelia's icy glare as they continued across the street to the pub.

"You have to stop being so hard on yourself," Aldarn said glancing back at Valin, a little less tense now that their way into the castle was here. "You wouldn't be the first to make an attempt on His Majesty's life"

She grinned and flipped her hair back, her cheerfulness bubbling up again. "Yeah but I was just the, like, _prettiest_ and most _fantastical _out of all of them. Hold up, Drake!"

Drake froze with his hand on the door of the pub. Valin skipped up past him, knocking on the door three times, kicking it twice, and then whispering something in Meridian into the keyhole. The door swung open from the inside.

"You didn't say the pAsswOrd!" she told him in a singsong voice as she walked in merrily past the enormous black and white Vathek-sized guard at the door who inspected the three rebel leaders and cloaked Guardians with a critical eye.

"Sorry, Valin," Caleb apologized as he and Aldarn passed inside, giving the guard at the door a nod to vouch for the Guardians, "Drake suffers from a disease which causes him to lose the use of his vocal chords in the presence of cleavage"

"**I DO NOT!" **Drake hissed at his friends with such a color in his face that the Guardians snorted and even Aldarn cracked a smile.

"I was actually beginning to wonder that myself," Hay Lin whispered to Irma who gave another snort of laughter.

Valin heard none of the exchange however as she said something to the bartender and was directed towards a booth near the back. The Guardians and rebel leaders took a bit more care of double checking their surroundings. The pub was half dilapidated and impossibly crowded. Nearly every table was full and almost everyone was a rebel with the exceptions of very few civilians all seated at one side of the pub.

Rolling her eyes, Valin waved them over. "We've got a rebel at, like, every single exit and entrance plus, like, totally _three_ archers on the roof and my _bff _Kolga at the door. _What's up,_ Kolga?" she added, waving at the mammoth reptilian man as his eyes landed on her in his sweep of the room. He smirked at her pointedly before resuming his search of the crowded pub.

"Now," she said grinning as her company filed into the booth, "say what you've got to say."

Caleb, Aldarn, and Will, all sitting across from her, launched into what they knew of Vernacula and her imprisonment. Valin listened with patience that seemed only rivaled by Hay Lin's, nodding her head at all the appropriate times and keeping fixed eye contact with whomever was speaking. Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin, all on her side of the table, would interject quick comments here and there.

Cornelia and Drake, however, remained silent. Drake remained quiet because he couldn't think of anything to say that his fellow rebels hadn't said already that would in any way impress Valin. Cornelia kept her mouth shut because she sure she could keep the cattiness and annoyance out of her voice if she said anything to their new 'ally'. Whatever her deal was that had the boys holding her in such high regard, Cornelia certainly wasn't going to give her the same regard completely on faith. _Especially_ if she could make Caleb ignore Cornelia so completely.

"So do you know where they're keeping her?" Aldarn asked urgently. "Do you know where in the castle she is?"

Her grin never wavering, Valin settle back down in her chair comfortably and replied, "Not, like, a single clue, _dude_"

The Guardians and rebel leaders stared at her in shock as the female rebel rummaged casually through her pant pockets.

"_**What**_ _**do**_ _**you**_—?" Cornelia began, on the verge of exploding when Valin cut her off, tossing a scroll onto the table.

"However, I do know where she's, like, gonna be tomorrow round noontime. That work?"

Aldarn picked up and unraveled the scroll as Will read it over his shoulder for the benefit of the other members across the table.

"'Her Royal Majesty Princess Elyon and His Royal Highness Prince Phobos invite you to a public concert at the Viewing Well Amphitheater in Shomanka'. Um…what?"

"Concert," Valin replied, "Kon-surt. Noun. A public musical performance in which, like, a number of singers or instrumentalists or, like, a combination of the two participate"

"Well, we know what a concert is," Will replied with a sigh, "we have those on Earth. I meant what does this mean that Phobos is letting her have one?"

"Means Ellie is much more persuasive than she ever led on," Irma commented to Cornelia who was slightly pink at her outburst. She gave Irma a _look._

"Ditto," Valin replied, pointing at Irma.

Caleb dug into one of the pockets of his coat and pulled out a small money bag. From inside it, he pulled out a folded up silk square roughly around the size of a coin and began unfolding the map.

"Alright, here's the plan," Caleb began, setting the map on the table as the girls gathered around. "We'll meet here near Frosta since it's the closest city still standing from Shomanka. Will, can you have the girls here by portal in the morning?"

Before Will could speak, though, Valin turned her head to the side to look at the map at a different angle and stated, "That's a bad idea"

Aldarn looked at her with a glare. "How so?"

Valin dug into the front of her shirt and pulled out an Earth brand permanent marker and began marking up Caleb's map. "There are, like, three guard posts here, here, and here," she said, xing out several towns on the map, "Not to mention that you would _totally_ compromise us if you, like, decided to go around **this** way and—"

Before Valin could finish her mutilation of Caleb's probably very expensive map, Caleb grabbed her Sharpie wielding hand and fixed her with a half amused expression.

"Valin, who's leading this rebellion again? You or me?"

The female rebel suddenly got an ecstatic look on her face. "Oh My God! Are you, like, putting it up for a _**vote**_?!"

"Oh! You totally have mine!" Hay Lin announced cheerfully as Drake began to raise his hand absentmindedly with a dopey look on his face before he caught himself. Caleb sent a scowl Hay Lin's way that Cornelia found made him look cuter, despite their situation.

"Look, can you be there tomorrow morning?" Aldarn asked Will again while Caleb relieved Valin of her weapon.

"I don't think we have anything to do tomorrow morning since it's Sunday," she pondered to herself. "Girls?"

"I have skating," Cornelia said immediately. Everyone at the table stared at her.

"You just got out of a skating _competition_," Taranee asked incredulously. "You have practice _again_?"

"Yes," was all she said, leaning back and crossing her legs, "I ranked third so I'm going to states"

Caleb opened his mouth to argue her priorities but Cornelia gave him such a look of bold faced determination that he shut his mouth again and glared back at her. He knew her well enough to know there was no use arguing with her when she was hell bent on being right.

"It's settled then," Aldarn spoke up, giving the combatants a wary look. "Frosta tomorrow morning with the exception of Cornelia"

"_Off the, _like,_ chain, yo!_" Valin exclaimed raising her hand for a high-five which Hay Lin gladly gave her. Just then, the front door opened again and a tall, thin, blue skinned man walked in and Valin recognized him instantly.

"Sorry, guys, but that guys owes me, like, a boatload of money. You might wanna, like, slip out the back while I take care of this," she told them, nearly climbing over the Guardians who were already getting out of the booth. Aldarn led the way to the back door of the pub as Valin headed to meet the newly entered rebel.

"Well, I've got to hand it to her," Irma commented as the Guardians and rebels ducked out the back door, "she's some piece of work"

The Guardians flinched as the distinct sounds of a bar fight breaking out erupted from the inside of the pub.

"She can also kill you five different ways with her bare hands," Drake sighed dreamily while something heavy hit the pub's back wall.

"Oh yeah," Cornelia replied sarcastically, still glaring at Caleb who was avoiding her eyes, "she's a real knockout"

* * *

From the roof above them, a cloaked female assassin stood atop one of the bodies of a fallen archer and listened in as the group passed through the alley to the street at the pub's rear.

"So, what time exactly at Frosta tomorrow?" the skinniest of the cloaked figures asked a rebel.

"With the time differences in time, I'd say around seven which should be around quarter-day here," the rebel leader replied.

Beneath her, the archer groaned. She instantly dropped to one knee, knocking the wind out of the archer and thrusting her hand down to hit one of the humanoid's pressure points, knocking him unconscious again.

"Well, there go _my _plans for sleeping in," another cloaked figure said. As the group reached the end of the alley, the assassin watched as the cloaked figure in the lead held out what was unmistakable the Heart of Candracar and opened a portal. The cloaked figures went through with the rebel leader and the two remaining rebels went separate ways.

She rose then and unfastened a pouch from her belt. Dumping some sand into her hand, she secured the pouch back on her waist. Then she threw the sand on the floor with a muttered incantation and pulled her mask off with her other hand. An image of Cedric appeared in the magic sand.

"Yesssssss, Belantha?"

"We have a date and time," she reported with a sly smile.

* * *

Cookie to whomever can say "_Staltar, _Aldarn" without twisting your tongue because I'm having some difficulties. Valin's nose-lickin' greeting is **koolkame's** preferred choice of—I mean, it's his idea.

Someone asked about the names Vernacula and Valin so here's where the inspiration came:

Vernaculaa play on the word 'vernacular' meaning 'the native speech or language of a place'

Valina feminine equivalent of the word 'valor' meaning 'boldness or determination in facing great danger, esp. in battle'

**

* * *

**

Now a Word from Our Sponsors:

Verna: Um, hi everyone. We're here to kind of apologize on behalf of strayphoenix for the delay on this story.

Valin: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand to leave a lovely away message while we're, like, at it.

Verna: …yeah. (_under breath_) Whatever an away message is. (_Normal volume_) So Stray's been busy with some stuff—

Valin: —like, LOTS of stuff –

Verna: —since she last had a chance to have a go at us so she's sharing our legal rights with a lovely co-author—

Valin: —simply, like, LOVELY—

Verna: (_thinking_) IwillnotstranglemyfellowOCIwillnotstranglemyfellowOC… (_out loud_) —with **koolkame** who would love to have us on his stories 'Dark Gossamer Wings' and 'DJINN: The Way to Home'.

Valin: And we're, like, jacking Belantha as payback!

Verna: We are not _**jacking**_ her. It is a _**trade.**_

Valin: _GROSS! _We're acting like _**Passlings**_ now?!

Verna: (_ignoring her_) Yeah, so the two of them are doing a great bit of cross-advertising and we recommend you check us out in kame's stories since a full comeback on this one is going to take a bit.

Valin: It was only posted, like, now because _**yours truly**_ is so, like, _awesome_ that Stray wanted to introduce me herself before Kame, like, did.

Verna: I thought it was because we were temporarily bumped up on her priority list?

Valin: Like, that's what she told _**you**_**.**

Verna: What's _that_ supposed to mean?

Valin: _idk_ my _bff_ vernacula

Verna: …_**what?**_

Belantha: (appears wielding a wicked knife) So _who_ wants to jack _**me**_?

Valin: ... (points to Vernacula)


End file.
